Lookie Here!.. AND.. a Giveaway!

Look what is gracing my tomato barrel this season!

Each year I dream of lovely jumbo tomatoes but more often than not

the largest is only about two inches across. 

This year however, I super mulched the soil and started using an organic

fertilizer and Viola, 4 inch Maters! The tomato plants are so heavy with fruit that I've had to

add several more stakes to tie up all the red deliciousness!

I put in this back sitting area about 10 or 12 years ago,

but  over the years the big Australia River Wattle tree roots  had

lifted up the bricks and has shaded so much of the area that it needed a redo.

I pulled up all of the bricks, (what a job!) worked myself nearly to death hacking out the surface roots,

 then reset the bricks and pea gravel.

 I then added the raised area

for the old glider to sit on and a railroad tie step.

I took out the small raised pond that was there because the raccoons kept

getting in there and tearing up the lovely water plants. Silly monkeys! 

The waterfall in the corner was

replanted and I'm really pleased with the new look. 

What do you think?

The chairs are facing the wooden aviary with finches and song birds
and the whole space seems so much bigger. Ahhh.

Our weather has been fairly cool most of the year so I 

still have several 2011 pumpkins hanging on throughout the garden.

These two on the front porch still look just picked!

Will they make it till Halloween 2012?

This original design "Scardey Cat" ornament is looking over his shoulder

towards the Ehag Giveaway! Coming Soon!

Be sure to put your name in for a chance at this and several other fun 

pieces from our Ehag artists!

Have a safe and sane 4th of July!

Whoo Hoo! It's that time of year again, when the quiet of the morning is uplifted with crackling firecrackers,

and the occasional familiar Piccolo Pete whistle!

There was always a sense of anticipation when you would see the Red Devil Fireworks stands

starting to pop up all over town.

Those stands were such a magical thing, and there was something about the glow of the exposed light bulbs, the red, white, and blue packages and the wafting smell of gun powder and starter punks in the air.

There was always that hope that your Dad might spring for the deluxe assortment box with the extra giant cones, and maybe a roman candle or two or three! "Roman Candle? No, they don't sell those here!" Can we get the big box then?!

Of course we had to have a few boxes of sparklers! They used to only come in a brilliant white, but in later years, we could buy sparklers that threw off red, or green sparks. What fun, spinning them round and round, or writing your name in the air with the brightly glowing and spitting sparkler stick.

I was always mesmerized by the snakes. They always seemed the most difficult to light and my Dad would say, "That's going to make a mark on the sidewalk", so we would "grow" our snakes on the edge of the driveway. How did they do that?! Those long winding black sooty snakes would curl and just keep on growing like a Phoenix, from that little round disk.

One of the last fireworks to be pulled from the box was the little, put together yourself, "Clipper Cabin". Oh! What does it do?!... well.... My Dad always carefully assembled the little country cabin and lit the cone... and we waited... and waited... and the chiminey started smoking. Ahhhh. Peace on the Frontier,,, until we'd ignite the whole thing and it would burn in a blaze of glory! lol

And then there was Joe.

He wasn't one of the flashy, sparkly, glowing, fizzing and whistling fireworks. You simply unfolded his little cardboard stand and lit his Hobo stogie and watched the glowing embers.

Unlike the cabin, we extinguished his cigar before it got too close to his face.

But... I guess Joe was at the heart of the "Safe and Sane" Red Devil campaign and from a simpler time.

I don't know why, but  "Smokey Joe" was one of my all time favorites. :-)

Wishing everyone a wonderful

4th of July!